Personal Space
by HomiSidle
Summary: Jack spends a night at the office and Sam shows up... J/S.


Author: HomiSidle  
  
Spoilers: None, I made this up!  
  
Disclaimers: I do not own Without a Trace or CBS or even paper towels. Well, I have paper towels in my house, but I don't own Bounty.  
  
Archival: Please tell me, I like to know where my stories are. :D  
  
Thanks to: All the gang down on Maple Street, thanks for your support, and to all the other fic writers who inspired me.  
  
*****************  
  
It started out with a smile. A simple smile. A smile that led to a touch. A touch that let to a longing. A longing that led to a beautiful disaster.  
  
Jack Malone worked at the FBI office in New York City. He'd worked there for as long as he could remember - after the army, that is. He'd worked there because he wanted to make a difference, help people, and support his family.  
  
Not that he had a family any more. It had been months since he and his wife Marie had separated. Separated because Jack was never around, because he never 'spent any time' with his wife. He was always at work, wasn't he? Well, according to her, at least.  
  
The truth is, there was someone else. It hadn't always been that way - at first, they just worked together. Then they became friends. Close friends. He trusted her, he could talk to her, and this was before the separation.  
  
Her name was Samantha Spade, but Jack had dubbed her Sam Spade. Nobody else called her Sam, that was special, that was theirs. He felt for her in a way he hadn't felt in years. Marie had become demanding, and the long hours at work kept getting longer in his subtle attempts to avoid her ranting. He would drown himself in his work, putting all of his energy into it, causing even more of a strain on his home life. It wasn't that he didn't love his wife. did he?  
  
He saw an end in sight. He was going to try again. It would have worked, too, if it wasn't for that night at the office. Jack sat at his desk, poring over papers and files, information and news, when she had walked in. One in the morning, and she had walked in, tired, haggard and in a desperate need of coffee. She'd smiled at him, he'd smiled back.  
  
"Jack, why are you here?" She'd said. She looked understanding. Too many nights he'd discovered her asleep at her laptop. He wondered if she was escaping her home life too, but then, she didn't have anyone to escape.  
  
"I'm still working on the Whitman case. Martin called and asked me to do some background on the kid, might be of use," He'd replied, because technically, that's what he was supposed to be doing.  
  
She grinned exhaustedly and handed him some hot coffee. She had one as well. Jack didn't understand how she could have known, unless she meant to-  
  
"Well, I'm running a check on the teacher, too. Mind if I join you?" Sam had smiled helpfully. She was beautiful.  
  
"Go right ahead," Jack had offered, and she sat down next to him at the large conference table.  
  
For the next few minutes they worked in silence, clicking and scratching away. He didn't know about her, but he wasn't particularly focused on the task at hand. He was staring at her out of the corner of his eye, watching the concerned expression on her face as she hacked and processed information. Then he noticed an electrical charge zap him lightly on the arm - their elbows were touching, just barely. He made no attempt to fix this; after all, it wasn't a problem, so why fix it?  
  
She felt the charge at the same moment he did. Sam suppressed a smile. Who had initiated the action? Was it mutual? Was this sexual harassment? So many questions filled her mind. After a brief moment, his elbow pressed slightly harder against hers, and to her astonishment, she returned the gesture. It was so gentle, if you had been walking past, you wouldn't even have noticed the connection between their arms.  
  
Sam stole a look at him. He wasn't using the keyboard, just sort of staring into the blankness of his computer. Was he smiling? She couldn't tell. She looked back at the laptop in front of her. Barely four words were typed - "FBI Offices New Yorkkkkk" haunted her. She quickly erased the extra letters, removing the connection to Jack's arm. He sensed this and pulled away, too.  
  
They both cursed in their heads. Samantha started typing frantically to distract herself. She longed to touch him again, in any way. She didn't care about his job, his marriage. well, she cared about that. She was flirting with her married boss, and even though she knew that was wrong, she had a very hard time convincing her heart of that. Sam wasn't even entirely sure she wanted to pretend they were just friends.  
  
Jack clicked around pointlessly on his own computer, masking his lust for her with his obsession for working. He wished he could just grab her, touch her all over, and memorize her body. He wanted to take her to his hotel, where he'd been staying since his last fight with Marie. He couldn't just spring her with 'Hey, Sam, how would you like to go for coffee, or dinner, and then maybe some extramarital sex?'  
  
He looked over sharply as the blonde grabbed her coffee to take a sip from. Jack couldn't help but notice that the lid was slowly starting to slide off, and he grabbed it from her and put it down on the desk, causing the top to pop off and roll across the desk, falling to the floor. She stared at him. His eyes got big as he realized how idiotic he must have looked.  
  
"Sorry, Sam, it was going to spill on your shirt," Jack said apologetically.  
  
"Thank. you," She responded slowly, confused at first and then smiling.  
  
Jack looked at her blouse and noticed a small circular coffee stain on her chest. She followed his gaze and saw the brown spot as well.  
  
"Oh, I'm going to have to get this dry-cleaned," She muttered, "but it could have been worse. Thank you."  
  
"Maybe we can wash it out," Jack offered and stood up, turning and hurrying to the washroom to grab some paper towel. Ripping a sheet out of the dispenser on the wall, he turned on the faucet and wet the paper. Scrunching it up in his hand, he turned off the tap and turned to exit the restroom.  
  
Sam was standing outside the door. Jack handed her the wet paper towel and she quickly tried to brush off the coffee stain. She was wiping fast and hard, but having two little stain-prone girls of his own, Jack knew that wasn't the way to handle tough spots. He reached out to grab the paper towel, but instead wrapped his own hand around Sam's. She looked up at him.  
  
For a moment, they just stared at each other, filled with a hunger and a confusion. Sam looked deep into his eyes, seeing past his tired exterior. Jack held her hand tightly, and their faces moved closer together. The wet napkin was forgotten as Sam wrapped her arms around Jack, pulling in his warmth lustfully. He was so perfect just to hold. All reservations were pushed aside as they grabbed at each other. He pressed his lips against hers, drawing her magnificent body to him. He wanted to be a part of her. They both knew it was wrong, but it didn't matter. Jack's hands couldn't be in enough places at once. Sam gasped as he kissed her neck. Time was forgotten as they lost themselves in each other.  
  
A few achingly brief minutes later, the motion stopped. It had all happened so fast, as anything incredible does, and they just stood, Sam leaning against the wall, Jack holding her. They just stared into each others' eyes. What had just happened? They both looked for some sign of approval, some sign that this had really happened. That was when Sam smiled again, and an incredible weight lifted off of Jack's shoulders. He smiled too, which only increased the brilliance of her grin. He held her closer, and she laughed happily. He laughed too. Every last bit of angst in his tortured existence was washed away by their united laughter. When he pulled away from her, the chortling stopped, and they found themselves staring again, and Jack realized that he had just betrayed his marriage, and the weight returned to his tired shoulders. He stopped smiling and backed away from her.  
  
"I have to go," Jack said suddenly, and fixed his clothing. Sam looked confused. He ran back to his desk, her following him. He grabbed his briefcase and walked to the elevator. He could hear Sam buttoning her shirt as she ran. walked. and then slowed, finally stopping. He kept walking for a moment, but then found his feet betraying him. He stood in front of the elevator, and hung his head.  
  
Sam just stared at him, on the verge of tears. What had she done? What had they done? Now he was leaving and things were never going to be the same. That was when he stopped.  
  
Slowly, he turned around to face her. He saw her beautiful dishevelled hair, her gorgeous faltered smile. He couldn't do this. Not to her. He dropped his briefcase.  
  
"Want. to come. with me?" He asked, his voice breaking. He attempted a grin.  
  
Samantha just stood for a moment, but then smiled shyly.  
  
"Think that elevator's big enough for the both of us?" She asked.  
  
He smiled.  
  
This wasn't over yet. 


End file.
